


Didn't Mean It

by americanbaekhyun



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hospital, Doctor Huang Ren Jun, Doctor Na Jaemin, Doctor/Patient, Flirting, Fluff, Hospitals, M/M, Patient Lee Jeno
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-06-25 17:35:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15645627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/americanbaekhyun/pseuds/americanbaekhyun
Summary: Na Jaemin, a newbie surgical intern, didn't mean to fall in love with his patient, Lee Jeno.(Inspired by Grey's Anatomy)





	Didn't Mean It

**Author's Note:**

> Please note: I'm not a doctor nor planning to be one so not everything in this fic may be accurate!

Jaemin’s alarm went off promptly at four in the morning. He reached over and shut it off tiredly. It was his first day as a surgical intern at Cha General Hospital, and to say he was nervous was an understatement. He was absolutely terrified. Of course, he’d had an orientation to get his doctor scrubs in his locker and had met a Chinese boy about his age called Renjun who’d also graduated early, but he was afraid he would get some sort of different treatment. He hadn’t met his resident yet nor had he met anyone else that he would work with. Most of the residents he’d met at orientation had been nice, but not _his_ resident.

 

He rose and combed his hair, trying to straighten his appearance. The only thing he wanted was to look older, not like some twenty-year-old who’d graduated early and was hyperprivileged due to his medical background. His parents had been surgeons but his mother died of cancer and his father was retired and developed depression due to his field. Jaemin knew he could turn out just like that but he didn’t care. The pressure to go into medicine had been too much, and not to mention his own desire to help people.

 

He put on a pale beige collared shirt and some dark pants along with a ring—the same ring his father would wear to work, he said it was good luck. He wasn’t necessarily allowed to wear it during surgery, but the presence was always supportive.

 

Hailing a taxi, Jaemin rode it quietly, spending his time staring out the window stressfully. He kept his bag containing his lunch and dinner money, trying to tell himself he was ready for a 48-hour shift which most likely would be spent just retrieving lab results and providing basic checkups on post-surgical patients to discharge them. Nothing major.

 

Jaemin walked into the locker room and saw Renjun, adjusting his coat and scrubs. “Morning.”

 

“Ah, Jaemin,” Renjun said. “I think we’re under the same resident. I don’t know where he is though. . .” His voice trailed off. 

 

“Aren’t you afraid people will treat us differently?” Jaemin asked as he changed into his scrubs. “We’re not in our late twenties, we’re young and inexperienced.”

 

“All the more reason for them to respect us more,” Renjun replied, unfazed. “We graduated early, we’ve got higher IQs and a promising future. Hell, we’re even here earlier than everyone else. Get changed, I wanna meet our resident.”

 

“You know his name?” Jaemin asked as he adjusted his sleeves.

 

“Dr. Jung. Jung Jaehyun,” Renjun read off a paper folded up in his locker.

 

“Morning, grads,” a man said as he entered the room. “Ready for your first full shift?

 

“Are you Dr. Jung?” Jaemin asked.

 

The man whistled and shook his head. “Hell no. I’m an intern, been so for a couple of months. Nakamoto Yuta, pleasure. I’m not under Dr. Jung, but I’m friends with him. He’s a talented surgeon, you’ll see. Maybe you can even scrub in.”

 

“Nice to meet you,” the two chorused. Yuta smiled at their synchrony.

 

“You guys are very promising to Cha General, don’t forget that,” Yuta said. “Some of the doctors might be cold, ‘cause you got opportunities they didn’t have when they were your age—they were probably still in college.”

 

“Nakamoto, harassing the grads already?” another man asked, having silently entered the room. “Don’t give ‘em a hard time, they’ve only been on call for a couple minutes.”

 

“Sicheng! Good morning!” Yuta exclaimed happily. “That’s my boyfriend.”

 

“I’m not,” Sicheng corrected. “I’m just another surgical intern. I’ll be a resident soon though. My name’s Dong Sicheng, in case you didn’t already figure that out. I heard one of you guys is Chinese?”

 

“Me,” Renjun said. Sicheng smiled and asked him something in Chinese to which Renjun responded with a bow and some more words. Jaemin’s eyes adjusted—was he blushing?

 

“Speak Korean dammit,” Yuta said with a roll of his eyes. “You want me to speak Japanese? 愛してい!”

 

“I know what that means,” Sicheng retorted, sliding his white coat on. “And go fuck yourself.”

 

“Gladly,” Yuta replied with a wink as Sicheng scowled and left the room. Yuta then turned to Jaemin and Renjun. “I’ll page Jung, he’s probably still on call from the previous night.”

 

Jung Jaehyun was a tall man, visibly flawless to Jaemin. He had light brown hair and piercing eyes, with small shallow dimples in his cheeks. His scrubs hid what looked like prominent muscle no doubt from working out in his free time. “Good morning, grads. I’m Dr. Jung, I’m your resident.”

 

“Huang Renjun,” Renjun said as he bowed, his eyes not leaving Jaehyun’s.

 

“Na Jaemin,” Jaemin said, bowing. Jaehyun stared at Jaemin with a perplexed look, probably thinking about Jaemin’s family history. Luckily, he chose to stray from the subject and instead cleared his throat. 

 

“There’s no one in the ICU that requires immediate surgery so you’ll be relaying lab results for the most part and diagnosing people. I hope you’re okay with that because you’ve truly got no say,” Jaehyun explained. Jaemin noted that he had a way of delivering his words with a positive demeanor. He might accidentally diagnose someone with terminal cancer while keeping his tone light and his face kind and approachable. 

 

“Yes sir,” Jaemin and Renjun said in synch. 

 

“Will we meet the other interns?” Jaemin asked.

 

“Dr. Dong is one, there’s Dr. Kim and Dr. Moon and that’s it. I’m sure you’ll meet them eventually.” Jaehyun turned out the door, followed by Jaemin and Renjun.

 

Jaemin’s legs began to hurt a few hours into delivering and receiving lab results and walking all over the hospital. He walked to too many wards but never once passed by the surgery board schedule. He wondered how many minor surgeries he could’ve been scrubbing in on and apparently Renjun did too, because when they were eating breakfast and drinking coffee on break at 7:30 AM, he voiced his complaints.

 

“I don’t understand,” he said. “There’s no way we’re not getting cheated out of surgery. It’s impossible that there were no surgeries scheduled between 4:45 and now. I would scrub in on anything, even an erectile dysfunction implant.”

 

Jaemin choked on his bagel. “I wouldn’t. I didn’t graduate high school early and go to medical school for so many years to watch someone get a penis implant.”

 

“I would. It’s surgery at least, and better than being an assistant to an overhyped resident,” Renjun said bitterly. 

 

After breakfast, it was back to delivering results and checking up on patients, meeting the receptionists, one whom Jaemin was particularly fond of—a pretty woman named Yoo Jeongyeon, who was in business school and working at Cha General to pay for the classes. She was older than Jaemin by a sizable amount, but that didn’t stop Jaemin from flashing her with his killer smile and delivering a flirty compliment whenever he passed her.

 

It was around 8:35 AM, however, when all hell broke loose.

 

Jaehyun paged Jaemin, Renjun, and the three older interns, Sicheng, Dr. Kim, and Dr. Moon. Jaemin met them in the elevator but quickly forgot their names. His heart was pounding, _something was finally happening_ and he was more than excited. He remembered the way Dr. Kim’s voice had cracked when he explained the reason for all the commotion— _helicopter accident_.

 

When the elevator opened, the hospital was in a frenzy, everyone preparing for the family of three and the crew inside the copter that had been injured, but the doctors blazed passed them to the stairs to meet Jaehyun in the roof. The helicopter had crashed and the victims were to be carried to the hospital by another helicopter since it had crashed in the country and the closest hospital had been Cha General, which just-so-happened to be smack-dab in the middle of Seoul.

 

“Ten victims,” Jaehyun explained as they got their bright yellow robes on to protect from fluids. “The other surgeons will be up here soon. We’ll need to be quick to surgery, all but one are unconscious.”

 

“All but one,” Renjun echoed next to Jaemin in a quiet voice. He was nervous. Of course he was.

 

Just a few minutes later, a few helicopters were sighted by a triage of doctors and nurses on the roof, which sent Jaemin’s nerves skyrocketing. He was afraid he would forget everything he’d learned once the first helicopter touched down.

 

“Kim, you’ve got the first one, Dong, the second. I’ll get the pilot who’s got the worst of it, Moon, you’ve got the girl. Huang, the father, and Na, the son. Son’s the only conscious one, but don’t get him to talk, why not?” Jaehyun asked, quizzing Jaemin suddenly.

 

“He’s probably in shock,” Jaemin answered in a heartbeat. “He won’t respond but his body might, it could go into overdrive if he tries to remember the accident.”

 

“Precisely. Gloves on men, the first chopper’ll be landing shortly.”

 

Jaehyun’s definition of “shortly” was different than Jaemin’s. Jaemin thought he would have a couple of minutes before the wind blasted in his face and messed up the hair he’d worked so hard to perfect in the morning but it was not meant to be. As the doors opened and the ramp rolled down, Kim Dongyoung and Dong Sicheng rushed forward accompanied by a few other various doctors and nurses to collect the victim, the paramedics shouting information about them. Jaemin learned, as he was waiting for the chopper with the son inside to land, that the fuse had blown, causing the chopper to fall down and skid on its side. As Jaehyun rolled the stretcher with the pilot, Jaemin watched as a paramedic followed closely. She was holding an arm. The pilot’s arm. He swallowed.

 

“Second chopper’s landing!” Moon Taeil yelled. It wasn’t needed for the other doctors, but it was a call to focus for Jaemin and Renjun. Jaemin snapped out of his thoughts, preparing to take the stretcher. 

 

The first helicopter left as soon as it arrived, leaving room for the second chopper. Jaemin rushed forward as it did, steadying the boy’s oxygen mask as he pushed him down the ramp, listening to the shouts of the paramedic.

 

“Twenty-year-old Korean man, conscious, vitals stable, a large laceration on the entire left side and severe external bleeding, protruding object had been in but fell out before we reached the site, internal bleeding highly possible, in a state of shock, on two doses of morphine.”

 

“Keep him conscious,” Jaemin told himself as he nodded off the paramedic. A few other doctors followed him, asking him what they were to do.

 

“Prepare him for a CT,” Jaemin said. “Stop the external bleeding and find the source of possible internal bleeding. Name?”

 

“Lee Jeno,” one of the nurses answered as she pushed through the crowd, shouting at people to get out of the way.

 

“Schedule him for stitches,” Jaemin ordered to another doctor as they entered the ICU.

 

“Dr. Na, the CT’s backed up.”

 

“How long?”

 

“Twenty minutes.”

 

“Tell Dr. Jung I’m starting stitches. We can’t wait to get him a CT, he’ll bleed out. Give him a sedative in case the morphine wears off and start him on IV fluids,” Jaemin ordered as he pulled up a mask and one of the nurses closed the curtain. It was no use telling Jeno he would be in a bit of pain; the boy had his eyes wide open and unblinking. He could hear what was happening but didn’t respond.

 

Before beginning to stitch up Jeno’s wound, Jaemin surveyed the wound. From his lower thigh to his armpit was a huge gaping wound that begged to be stitched up. There was a larger circular shape interrupting the line of the wound, which Jaemin assumed was where an object had been removed. There was no time to wait, he had to begin.

 

Jaemin stitched quickly and neatly, having one of the nurses hold a pile of gauze to the unstitched parts so he wouldn’t bleed out during the makeshift surgery. 

 

“Vitals stable,” another nurse reported, staring at the vitals board. 

 

“Finished,” Jaemin said as he tied off the last stitch. “We’ll take him into a CT and we can take the stitches out if he needs surgery.”

 

“Dr. Jung is in surgery right now,” a nurse explained quietly. “He’s reattaching the pilot’s arm. He will be there for a few more hours.”

 

“Are there any more doctors that could help him if he’s internally bleeding?”

 

The nurse shook her head slowly with a bow. “No. There are nine vital surgeries that need the best surgeons in the hospital and they are more dire than this.”

 

“Damn,” Jaemin muttered. “He could bleed out.”

 

“Dr. Na, there is a chance he isn’t internally bleeding,” the nurse said.

 

“A small one. I’m just an intern, I’m not allowed to perform that kind of surgery without an attending,” Jaemin said. “Let’s get him to CT.”

 

“Dr. Na!” a male nurse called, shoving the curtains aside. “The surgeons from SNU Hospital just arrived, if you’re in need of a resident, Dr. Jung is allowing you to scrub in for Mr. Lee’s surgery if a resident surgeon from SNU is performing it.”

 

“Yes sir,” Jaemin said. “We need to check for internal injuries and get him to CT fast.”

 

“Of course,” the man said. He and the other nurses along with Jaemin pushed Jeno’s bed quickly to CT where he was lifted onto the bed and they watched intently as he went through the scan.

 

“Shit,” Jaemin whispered. “Right there.” He pointed to an abnormality on the black and white image. “Internal bleeding from the gallbladder and liver. The object must’ve punctured them. Page a resident from SNU, we need a surgery right now.”

 

“Yes sir,” a nurse said and a few minutes later, a doctor arrived. He introduced himself as Dr. Shim Changmin, a resident at SNU Hospital. 

 

“Pleasure,” Jaemin said with a bow. “Dr. Na Jaemin, surgical intern. Our patient is Lee Jeno, twenty-year-old Korean, conscious, in a state of shock. The CT was backed up so I had to stitch up his laceration. It’s on his left side, he had a protruding object that punctured his gallbladder and liver, as you can see on the scan.” He motioned to the image. 

 

“I see. Let’s get him to a surgery room. Gallbladder might be collateral damage, I might need to take it out,” Dr. Shim said. “You’re a surgical intern, aren’t you? You remember your medical shit?”

 

“Yes sir,” Jaemin responded. It was the truth—he did know how to stitch up an organ from internally bleeding.

 

“Good. There are other patients and other surgeries I’m gonna be needed in, so we’ll make this quick. Who’s your attending? Is it Dr. Jung?”

 

“Yes sir,” Jaemin said. He could feel his nerves buckling in his throat—his first major surgery, and not even 24 hours into his first shift.

 

“Fuck fuck fuck!” Someone’s scream, coming from the CT. Lee Jeno’s sedatives and morphine had worn off, due to Jaemin not telling the nurse how much. He was now feeling it—the soreness of his newly stitched skin.

 

“Get him out,” Shim said to the nurses, who did just that. They met in the hall, where Dr. Shim ordered them into the only empty OR.

 

“Call a team or some shit, you guys _do_ have one, right?” Dr. Shim asked. “Enough materials are here, but we need an anesthesiologist unless Mr. Lee wants a conscious surgery.”

 

“God no!” Jeno cried.

 

“Inject him with 10 CCs of morphine, we need something to tide him over until the anesthesiologist gets here,” Jaemin ordered, and the nurses replaced a bag on Jeno’s IV.

 

“We don’t have time to page,” Dr. Shim explained. “Get your anesthesiologist quick, run.”

 

“Yes sir,” Jaemin said wordlessly before slipping out of the OR. As he rushed through the halls, his mask fell down and his cap became untied but he didn’t care. A nurse was standing outside of the OR and stopped Jaemin.

 

“Dr. Na,” she said in a quiet voice. “Dr. Jung gave specific instructions to let none of his young interns in. He is performing a very high-stakes surgery and cannot be interrupted.”

 

“I’m not here for him,” Jaemin explained breathlessly. “I’m here for the anesthesiologist. We need to bring Mr. Lee into surgery, he’s internally bleeding out, but we can’t do it on morphine. Please, at least get him.”

 

“Dr. Lee Taeyong is the anesthesiologist,” the nurse explained. “I will do what I can but I cannot promise he will come. Limb reattachment requires constant monitoring.”

 

“Of course, ma’am,” Jaemin said before the nurse left. A short while later, she returned with Dr. Lee. Lee Taeyong was a handsome, tall man with large brown eyes and neatly parted chestnut hair that looked like Jaehyun’s.

 

“Dr. Na,” he acknowledged. “One of two of the twins.”

 

“Twins?”

 

“Twin grads. You and Dr. Huang, Jung’s highly-anticipated early grads.” Taeyong shook his hand firmly before running his fingers through his hair. “I always hoped we would meet someday but I never thought it would be under these circumstances.”

 

“Sorry sir,” Jaemin said. He didn’t give Taeyong enough time to respond before continuing. “The son, the youngest in the accident, requires surgery. He’s bleeding internally. He’s on morphine as a painkiller but we can’t perform surgery while he’s got no anesthesia.”

 

“Ah, I see. We should hurry, then. Are you with an attending from SNU Hospital?”

 

“Yes sir,” Jaemin said. “Dr. Shim.”

 

“Shim. . . ah, yes, he’s good. You’ll need to lead the way, I don’t know what OR you’re in.”

 

“Yes sir,” Jaemin said, feeling a bit flustered before he began walking. He started slowly at first before speeding up with Taeyong at his heels. He pushed through frantic doctors and nurses, visitors and friends until he reached the OR where Lee Jeno’s surgery was going to be.

 

“Dr. Shim,” Jaemin announced from the doorway. “This is Dr. Lee, the anesthesiologist.”

 

“Dr. Lee,” Shim repeated. “Pleasure.”

 

“As for you,” Taeyong said, shaking his hand with a bow.

 

“And this is our patient, Mr. Lee,” Jaemin said, motioning to the boy on the bed.

 

“Mr. Lee,” Dr. Lee repeated, letting Jeno’s surname, the same as his, roll off his tongue. “Is he stable? Mentally? For surgery?”

 

“Yes sir,” Jaemin said. Jeno, however, didn’t even make eye contact which greatly contrasted Jaemin’s point. Taeyong seemed unfazed and believed Jaemin.

 

“Morphine, you said? How much is he on?”

 

“10 CCs,” Jaemin explained. “I wanted a small dose, but one that could tide him over in case you were needed in the other OR.”

 

“Ah,” Taeyong responded. “I don’t think I will be needed, but we’ll do this as quickly as possible in case I’m needed elsewhere. Dr. Na, just out of curiosity, you will be just assisting in the surgery, correct?”

 

“Yes sir,” Jaemin said.

 

“Good. I’ll load him up on anesthesia, these operations usually take a couple of hours.” Taeyong hooked up a new bag to Jeno’s IV and loaded a syringe with a liquid Jaemin could only assume was anesthesia. He hadn’t worked much with the sedative in med school anyway.

 

Jeno’s eyes closed slowly, he seemed to be speaking a few words to himself or to Jaemin, but he was soon asleep and the only sound was the steady beeping of the heart monitor.

 

“Ready for surgery, Dr. Na and Dr. Shim.” Jaemin heard Taeyong exhale sharply. “I will stay for as long as possible but please understand that if I get paged—”

 

“We understand,” Jaemin said, cutting in. 

 

“Dr. Na, is this your first surgery scrubbing in?” Shim asked quietly.

 

“Yuh—yes sir,” Jaemin said, cursing himself for stuttering. He had been proud of his seemingly professional image until now, Dr. Shim and Dr. Lee were finding out he had only been here for a couple of hours and was already scrubbing in on a surgery that could take out a man’s gallbladder and permanently scar his liver. It was no small feat for a twenty-year-old.

 

“Just one rule—don’t choke up,” Dr. Shim said. “Remember your lessons and don’t be nervous.” He had no doubt picked up on Jaemin’s shaky voice and stutter.

 

“Yes sir,” Jaemin responded, tying his mask and adjusting his cap.

 

“Are you ready?” Dr. Shim asked, not just to Jaemin, but to the assisting surgeons surrounding them.

 

“Yes,” Jaemin chorused along with the male and female surgeons. He was ready.

 

\--

 

He had told himself he wouldn’t nod off for his entire shift, at least not when he was in a patient’s room. Somehow he had though, he’d ended up in Lee Jeno’s room after his surgery, with his forehead resting on the side of his bed and his patient shaking him awake.

 

“Ah! Dr. Jung, I just—oh. Mr. Lee, I’m sorry, did I disturb—”

 

“No,” Jeno said. “I just have a few questions. You did my surgery, didn’t you?” 

 

“Yes,” Jaemin said. “Forgive me, I never got to introduce myself under the circumstances, I’m Dr. Na, an intern here at Cha General.”

 

“Lee Jeno,” Jeno said although Jaemin already knew that.

 

“You said you have questions?”

 

Jeno rubbed his head. “My family. . . what happened to them? The last thing I remember was the pilot saying we were going down and then a lotta pain. . .”

 

“You needed surgery,” Jaemin explained. “There was something protruding out of your side and it had fallen out by the time the paramedics arrived. But you started bleeding internally from your gallbladder and liver, but we were able to save both of them. Your entire side from your lower thigh to your underarm has stitches, not to mention your liver and gallbladder. You’ll be feeling sore for a couple more days, kid.”

 

“I’m twenty.”

 

“Heh, that’s funny.”

 

“Why is it funny?”

 

“I’m also twenty.”

 

Jeno coughed. “What? And you’re a surgeon? How is that possible?”

 

“Early graduation,” Jaemin explained. “I’m going to check your vitals now, is that okay, Mr. Lee?”

 

“Yeah, but. . . if you’re my age, why’re you calling me “Mr. Lee”? Just call me Jeno, it’s awkward since you’re my age.”

 

“Mr. Lee, it’s protocol—”

 

“I don’t care,” Jeno said. “When’s your birthday?”

 

“Mr. Lee—ah, Jeno, I just need your vitals. . .”

 

“When’s your birthday?” Jeno insisted. Jaemin wasn’t an expert on the psychology of patients after surgery, but he figured it was unusual that someone could have this much energy after undergoing one. “Don’t nurses usually do that?”

 

“Vitals? Yes, but since the accident, we’ve been kind of swamped, there are nine simultaneous surgeries still going on.” Jaemin jotted down a few notes before checking Jeno’s heartbeat on his chest. As he was pulling his hand away, Jeno grabbed his wrist.

 

“What about my family? My mom and dad?”

 

Jaemin’s face sobered. “I’m sorry. I don’t know. I’m not allowed in the ORs unless I’m scrubbing in, I’m just an intern.”

 

Jeno’s face fell before he folded his hands on his lap and laid back on his bed, tilting his head back, blinking away tears. “I had a feeling. When we were going down, my mom said she loved me and said we would meet again. I never. . . never spoke to my dad very much, he was too involved with his work. That’s why we were so rich, ‘cause he never took days off.” Jeno wiped his face. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t say stuff like this, you’re my doctor not my therapist.”

 

Jaemin smiled weakly. “I can be both if you want.”

 

Jeno waved his hand and then cringed at the pain. 

 

“It still hurts,” Jaemin said. “It will for a few more days. I can put you on a few drips of morphine, but I’ll need a nurse for that. Can you wait?”

 

Jeno nodded. As Jaemin was walking out of the room, Jeno called him again. “Wait! Dr. Na, can I know your first name?”

 

Jaemin turned and pulled his ID out of his breastpocket, displaying it for Jeno to see. “Jaemin. Na Jaemin.”

 

“Jaemin,” Jeno repeated slowly and delicately as if Jaemin’s name was glass and he would break it if he spoke it the wrong way. “Jaemin.”

 

Jaemin paged a young nurse called Kang who finished with Jeno’s vitals and put him on some morphine to help his pain.

 

“Kang, is there any word on the other surgeries? I want to tell Mr. Lee, their son.”

 

Kang nodded a little. “Mrs. Lee survived without any long-term injuries.”

 

“And Mr. Lee?”

 

“His left leg. They had to cut it off. But he will live,” she said. “The pilot and a few members of the crew are still in surgery. Odds are the pilot won’t survive, he’s lost a lot of blood. But Dr. Jung won’t give up on him.”

 

“Does he need me? To scrub in for a little? He’s been in surgery for hours. . .” Jaemin murmured, knowing it was foolish to think Jaehyun would need a break.

 

“I don’t think so, someone will page you if you are needed. No offense, Dr. Na, but you’ve only been interning here for ten hours. Dr. Jung has more experienced interns that he will use if he needs them.” Kang turned around and began to walk down the hallway, Jaemin following closely.

 

“Please page me if you need anything. . .” Jaemin said after realizing she probably didn’t want a little boy shadowing her every move. He shoved his hands in his pockets and strolled back to Jeno’s room, head low.

 

Jeno’s eyes flushed with worry. “Did. . . did you learn anything?”

 

“Bad news or good news first?” Jaemin asked quietly.

 

“Bad news.”

 

“Your father’s leg had to be amputated.”

 

Jeno exhaled slowly. “Gone? Just one?” His voice was surprisingly stable. Jaemin got closer to him so he could monitor his vitals. “Will he. . . will he ever walk again?”

 

“I don’t know. I’m sorry, Mr. Lee—I mean, Jeno.”

 

“Dr. Na. . . Jaemin, is it okay if I call you that?” When Jaemin nodded, Jeno continued. “What about the good news?”

 

“Good news is your mother will make a full recovery,” Jaemin said and Jeno brightened a little. “I don’t have any word on her current condition, but I assume she just got out of surgery. Were you. . . connected in any way to this pilot or crew?”

 

“No. Why?” 

 

Jaemin cleared his throat. “Things aren’t looking good for the pilot. The other four members of the crew. . . I don’t know. The pilot lost his arm and a lot of blood.”

 

“Oh,” Jeno murmured. “Can. . . can you give me some time alone? I need to let this sink in.”

 

Jaemin bowed. “Page Nurse Kang if you need anything with the call button to your right, I might be a bit busy.”

 

\--

 

“And his bone. . . it was just sticking out. . .” Renjun said, his hands folded behind his head as he and Jaemin lay in the on-call room in the same small lower bunk bed while Taeil slept above them soundlessly. “He survived, luckily, but. . . Christ, I wish I’d paid attention when they taught me how to calm a patient. . . damned nurse had to do it when he woke up and I felt like a fool. Jung will never let me forget it, he saw the whole thing too. How was your patient? The young one, conscious?”

 

“We shouldn’t be talking about them like this,” Jaemin commented, tracing the whorls in Renjun’s palm. “How many privacy laws are we violating?”

 

Renjun smiled and pretended to count on his fingers. “No one has to know. Besides, they’re already broken and I need to tell someone about this. Maybe you don’t but I do.”

 

“He was internally bleeding. They said there was something in him at first but it fell out I guess before they got to him, but it ended up okay,” Jaemin cut in. “I had to do surgery with one of the attendings from SNU. Forgot his name.”

 

“How is he?”

 

“Mr. Lee is good. The awkward thing is that he asked me to call him by his first name since we’re the same age. He wanted my birthday too.”

 

“Sounds like he’s got a crush,” Renjun said with a mischievous smile.

 

“I don’t think so. Maybe he just. . . wants to be friends.”

 

Renjun ran his fingers through Jaemin’s disheveled hair. “Bet you ₩10,000 that he’ll call you and ask if he can buy you a drink after he gets discharged.”

 

“I can’t be with a patient anyway, I could lose my license,” Jaemin stated. “Plus, I haven’t known him for long enough.”

 

“He’ll probably be in and out after he gets discharged,” Renjun said. “You know, complications, pain meds, psych ward, et cetera. You’ll be seeing a bit more of him after this blows over.”

 

Jaemin smiled a little. “I’m tired. Can you. . . wake me up if I get paged?” He adjusted himself, so he could use Renjun’s chest as a pillow.

 

“Yeah. . . I might try to get some sleep. I’m tired too. . .” Renjun’s voice faded off when Jaemin finally felt his eyes shut and he fell asleep almost immediately.

 

While he knew it was a couple of hours, it only felt like a couple of minutes when Jaemin awoke to his pager beeping. Renjun was sound asleep, his head resting on the top of Jaemin’s head and arm around his shoulder protectively. Jaemin wished he didn’t have to wake him, but he knew when he got out of the bed, he would wake up so Jaemin did it slowly.

 

“Jaemin?” Renjun murmured groggily. 

 

“Jung paged me,” Jaemin whispered. “I gotta go. Get some sleep, Renjun. Taeil is still sleeping in the upper bunk.”

 

“Good night,” Renjun murmured and then said something in Chinese before falling back asleep.

 

Jaemin shouldered his way into his white doctor’s coat and closed the door behind him slowly to reduce noise. Renjun and Taeil were still sleeping and he didn’t want to wake them.

 

“Dr. Na.” Jaemin was startled by the powerful voice of Dr. Jung Jaehyun. “You’re Lee Jeno’s surgeon, right? And you operated on him?”

 

“Yes sir,” Jaemin responded. “It went smoothly, and if all goes well, he should make a full recovery.”

 

“And how is his mental state? Any signs of mental trauma or scarring?”

 

“None that are visible,” Jaemin said. “But. . . I’m afraid that he’s still under the guise that everything will be okay. Do you. . . know something about his family?”

 

Jaehyun gave a small nod and began to walk down the hall, no doubt to Jeno’s room. “Yes. But I’ll tell him myself, it’s not any of your concern.”

 

“Wait, Dr. Jung, he’s my—”

 

“Your patient?” Jaehyun opened the door to Jeno’s room while looking back at him. “That doesn’t matter, this is about his personal life.”

 

“Dr. Jung, wait!” Jaemin yelled, but Jaehyun had already closed the door and locked it securely. Jaemin had attracted the attention of the doctors and nurses passing by but he didn’t care. He couldn’t bear to be left in the dark, so he pressed his face up to the small pane of glass on the side of the door. He couldn’t hear anything, but he watched intently as Jaehyun introduced himself with a bow and Jeno dipped his head respectfully, not able to bow because he was sitting upright. Jaehyun began to explain something slowly, and Jeno’s face slowly contorted until it looked like he’d just watched a tear-jerking drama. Jaehyun then turned around before bowing again. He made eye contact with the shocked Jaemin and opened the door, causing Jaemin to nearly tumble in. He landed on the floor with his hands catching his fall.

 

“Don’t fuck up,” Jaehyun hissed. “Don’t get too attached.”

 

 _Get too attached?_ Jaemin turned back, his messy hair straying into his eyes but Jaehyun was already gone. Instead of following him, Jaemin got up and dusted off his white coat, leaving his clipboard containing notes of Jeno’s case and granola bar he’d brought in case he’d get hungry on the floor lazily. But he didn’t care.

 

“Jeno?” Jaemin asked. Jeno looked up at him, his eyes watery and tear marks trailing down his cheeks. “Wuh—what did he tell you?”

 

Jeno stared at him. “Jaemin. . . I will tell you this as my friend since you saved my life. My dad. . . something happened, he—he had a stroke a little after he regained consciousness. He’s dead.”

 

Jaemin knew it wasn’t his father nor any members of his family, but he did remember how the news of his mother’s death had been delivered to his family. The doctor was simple and to-the-point, his mother had even worked with the doctor as a surgeon while she was alive. The doctor had just seemed to. . . not care. “Jeno, I. . . I’m so sorry.”

 

“It’s okay,” Jeno said slowly. “You. . . you never told me your birthday,” he stated, but it sounded more like a question.

 

Jaemin sat down in the chair across from Jeno’s bed. “August 13th. In the year 2000. What about you?”

 

Jeno smiled a crack. “April 23rd, year 2000. I’m older. You should be calling me “hyung”.”

 

Jaemin chuckled. “Hyung, huh? Jeno, can you tell me something?”

 

“What?”

 

“Tell me about your father.” Jaemin walked closer to his bed so he could ruffle his hair, almost playfully.

 

“My father?”

 

“My father wasn’t much of a father, so I never really knew what a good son was.”

 

“Mine wasn’t. . . wasn’t much better,” Jeno said reluctantly. “I know. . . I know I should be said, and grieving, but. . . why am I not sad? Does that make me a bad person? My father is dead and I cried for a grand total of 45 seconds?”

 

“You’re not a bad person,” Jaemin said sternly. “It’s okay not to be attached to a relative. Sometimes, they’re not worthy of your attachment. And that’s okay, blood relation doesn’t mean you have to love them with all your heart.”

 

Jeno met his eyes and neither of them looked the other way. “So I don’t need to go to the psych ward or anything? I’m. . . okay?”

 

Jaemin nodded. “Tell me about him.”

 

“Well. . .” Jeno adjusted in his bed. “He wasn’t a very good dad.”

 

“He must’ve had to be at least a five out of ten—he helped conceive a handsome man like you,” Jaemin said with a playful smirk.

 

“Jaemin, are you flirting with me?”

 

Jaemin shrugged innocently. “Maybe I am. Keep talking.”

 

Jaemin couldn’t ignore the fact that he spotted the ghost of a smile on Jeno’s face. “He worked all the time. Said he needed to, and whenever my mom asked him to take a day or two off for us, he would ask us if we wanted to be homeless. He made a big deal out of that. . . I don’t really know why. I just started to accept that we wouldn’t see him very much. So I would hang out with my mom a lot more. I’m glad. . . glad she’s alive. Is that bad? That I had a preference?”

 

“No,” Jaemin said. “I didn’t have a parental preference but my parents were very. . . pushing. They were both surgeons too and wanted me to be one. They made me skip a ton of grades ‘cause I was smart. I mean. . . it wasn’t terrible, I would’ve wanted to be a surgeon anyway.”

 

“Mm.” Jeno rested his head on the pillow, tilting it up. Jaemin tried to stray from watching, but he couldn’t help but notice how his Adam’s apple swelled with every swallow, or how his gown had moved slightly and exposed his collarbone.

 

Jaemin cleared his throat after thinking that Jeno might have noticed his peeking. “Ahem. I um, I’ve got places to be. You can page a nurse if you need anything.”

 

“But I’d rather page you, Jaemin,” Jeno said with a smile. Now he was flirting.

 

“Jeno, you shouldn’t flirt with your doctor,” Jaemin said with a smile.

 

“I’m your hyung, aren’t I? Show some respect, eh?”

 

“Good-bye, hyung, page a _nurse_ if you need anything~!” Jaemin said, picking up his clipboard and snack before closing Jeno’s door lightly.

 

“Done?” Jaehyun asked, startling Jaemin by standing right outside the door. “Dr. Na, you understand that I paged you for another reason rather than flirting with your patient.”

 

“Of course,” Jaemin said, blushing. “I’m sorry sir, I just—”

 

“The time is already wasted,” Jaehyun said. “You’ll learn, when you become a resident, you can’t be wasting time like this. What if it’s a code blue?”

 

“It wasn’t, was it?”

 

“No. But it could’ve,” Jaehyun said. “Follow me, you’ve got another patient.”

 

\--

 

Jaemin returned to the on-call room tired and wanting some sleep. It was probably three in the afternoon, or maybe four? He didn’t know, nor really cared. He was nearly halfway done his first shift. 

 

Renjun was still sleeping but Taeil was gone. Jaemin tried to remember which person in the crash he’d been assigned to. Was it the father? He didn’t really care, but then he remembered—it was the father who’d died. So that was why Renjun didn’t have much to do, his patient was dead.

 

Jaemin crawled into the bed with Renjun, causing him to stir. He’d probably been sleeping for a while anyway. Or maybe he’d been paged to learn the news of the Lee father.

 

“How was he?” Renjun asked groggily. “Is he okay? Did he learn about his dad?”

 

“Yeah,” Jaemin responded. He rested his head on Renjun’s chest, and Renjun tilted his head so his cheek was on Jaemin’s scalp. “He took the news really well. He said. . . he said he wasn’t really close with his dad. He never really met him. Does that make sense?”

 

“Understandable, I guess,” Renjun said. “I was pretty close with my dad. I’d be devastated if he died.”

 

“I think I would,” Jaemin said. “My parents were both surgeons, so they were really busy.”

 

“Ah right, the Na family. So that’s where I’ve heard your last name—in those medical textbooks online.”

 

Jaemin sighed. Just his parents’ names, not his. He was just their kid. Graduated early, lots of potential, but would ultimately be a let-down. His parents had subconsciously set the bar and Jaemin wouldn’t be able to reach it. “I’m going to sleep.” He didn’t want to keep talking about his parents. For some reason, he’d only been able to talk about them while talking to Jeno. He needed to talk to someone who could relate, even just a little bit. It wasn’t anything against Renjun, but Jaemin just couldn’t. He couldn’t put Renjun in that situation anyway.

 

He woke up, just a few minutes later, to his pager beeping. It wasn’t from Jaehyun or any other doctor in fact. It was from a patient’s room.

 

Jeno’s.

 

Jaemin took a breath and slipped out of Renjun’s arms and slid his white coat back on. He hoped it was nothing serious—Jeno’s surgery had gone well and there wasn’t a huge chance of complications after. He closed the door quietly behind him.

 

“Jeno,” Jaemin addressed, closing the door to Jeno’s room quietly. “Are you okay?”

 

“Fine,” Jeno said.

 

Jaemin blinked. “Then why did you call me?”

 

“It’s quiet in here,” Jeno commented. “Can’t you turn on some music or something? Preferably classical.”

 

Jaemin coughed into his elbow. “Excuse me?”

 

“You’re committed to my wellbeing aren’t you?”

 

“Well yes, but—”

 

“Music please,” Jeno said, lying back against the bed.

 

Jaemin flicked on the TV with the remote and set it to a music channel. “Like this? You know, you can just do it yourself, you don’t need me.”

 

“I know.”

 

“I didn’t go to med school for all those years just so I could turn on a TV.” Jaemin took Jeno’s file and scanned over the vitals taken by the nurses. “Guess I can take your vitals while I’m here.” He looked at the medicine intake and then it all made sense—Jeno was hooked on morphine, had been for the past couple of hours and it was getting to his head. Morphine had a way of making you think that you could be anyone and do anything and Jeno must’ve thought he was the fucking king.

 

“I’m paging Nurse Kang,” Jaemin murmured. “You need a break from all these meds.”

 

“No!” Jeno cried. He reached forward and snatched the clipboard containing his stats. “You can’t do that, I’m in pain.”

 

“Yeah, well you’re gonna be in a lot worse if you keep begging for more pain meds. You need to ease out of it,” Jaemin replied quietly. “Give me the file, Jeno.”

 

“Call me hyung,” Jeno prompted, a smirk crossing his face. 

 

Jaemin rolled his eyes. He knew this was the morphine talking and he wondered how Kang had managed to put that much morphine in him without him knowing. “I’m your doctor, Jeno, I—”

 

“Hyung.”

 

“Give me the clipboard, hyung,” Jaemin muttered, defeated. 

 

“Say please!”

 

“Please.”

 

Jeno glanced at the clipboard, held over his head out of Jaemin’s reach and then back at his impatient doctor and smiled. “It’s my clipboard!”

 

“Hyung!” Jaemin cried and reached across him. Jaemin rested his knees on the side of the bed and Jeno moved accordingly to accommodate Jaemin’s weight.

 

Jeno laughed and held the board higher and Jaemin reached across him in vain. Eventually, Jaemin had to stifle his laughs until Jeno switched the clipboard to his other hand and then he laughed loudly and Jeno joined him. Jaemin swung one of his legs on the other side of Jeno’s body so he straddled him and then snatched the clipboard. He smirked at Jeno in a victorious way.

 

“I can come back. . .”

 

The two heard a hesitant female’s voice from the front of the room. Nurse Kang had arrived.

 

Jaemin scrambled off Jeno and dusted off his scrubs before holding the clipboard in a hand. “Nurse Kang.”

 

“Good evening, Dr. Na,” Kang said. “What seems to be the problem?”

 

“You've hooked him up with too much morphine,” Jaemin hummed, pointing to a mess of writing on the paper. “15 CCs is far too much. He’s practically high on the stuff.”

 

“Dr. Jung issued the amount,” Kang explained with a shrug. “He said Mr. Lee would need it for the aftermath of the surgery.”

 

“Well, you need to take him off it.” At this, Jeno gave a pathetic whimper of disagreement but they both ignored it.

 

“It’s Dr. Jung’s order,” Kang said, her voice sharpening. “Not mine. Dr. Na, with all due respect, while you are my superior, Dr. Jung makes the final orders around here, not you.”

 

“Take him off the drip,” Jaemin said, his voice barely above a whisper. “It’s not good for him.”

 

“This is not up to me,” Kang said. “Dr. Na, may I have a word, outside the room?”

 

Jaemin glanced at Jeno before inhaling sharply and following her out.

 

“You can take it up with Dr. Jung if you have any complaints,” Kang said once she closed the door. “But I wanted to talk to you about something else. Something that doesn’t have to do with the painkillers.”

 

Jaemin took a breath. He knew what she was talking about.

 

“You realize the contract you signed when you began interning here had rules, right? Boundaries?”

 

“Nurse Kang, if this is about what you saw earlier—”

 

“I’m not finished,” Kang said sharply and continued. “I saw the way you looked at him. You don’t have a crush on him, do you?”

 

“Of course not,” Jaemin said, but his stomach felt hollow when he spoke. “Nurse Kang, he took the file and I was trying to get it back. It’s a misunderstanding.”

 

“I hope so,” Kang said. “I understand when a doctor has a bond with a patient, but. . . don’t get too attached. I’ll page Dr. Jung and you can speak with him about the drip. And I won’t say anything. I think you should get the situation sorted out with Mr. Lee alone. Without losing your medical license.”

 

Jaemin gave her a nod of gratitude and went back in the room. He sat across from Jeno stiffly, feeling the older boy’s gaze burning on him. He didn’t say anything.

 

“What was that about?” Jeno asked hesitantly. 

 

“Nothing that concerns you. You met Dr. Jung, right?” Jeno nodded and Jaemin continued. “Well, he’ll be coming in shortly.”

 

“About the drugs?”

 

Jaemin nodded. “No hard feelings, but I’m trying to look out for you. The morphine you’re on. . . it’s too much. You’re a bit too out of it to understand what I’m saying, or what you’ve been saying for the matter, but it’s true.”

 

“I like it,” Jeno argued. “It feels good and I’m not in any pain. How can you take it away? I don’t wanna hate you ‘cause you’re too handsome anyway.”

 

Jaemin felt heat rise to his face. “There you go again,” he replied quietly. “You shouldn’t flirt with me.”

 

“Like I said, you’re too handsome. Can’t you come closer to me? So I can fully look at your face.”

 

Jaemin complied, standing just above Jeno. Jeno scrutinized him, eyes taking in every detail. “You know, my parents wanted me to marry this girl. She was a family friend. That’s where we were going, I was going to get married. We were gonna check in a hotel in Tokyo and then I was gonna get married. Her name was Mina. She wasn’t mean or anything, but I didn’t like her. I didn’t want to marry her. I’m too young for marriage. In a way. . . this kind of worked out. I mean, I’m not saying. . .” Jeno trailed off.

 

Jaemin placed his hand on Jeno’s shoulder comfortingly. “It’s okay. I know what you mean. You didn’t want to go anyway, and somehow this happened.”

 

Jeno reached up and took Jaemin’s hand in his. He looked up at him with large round eyes. He didn’t say anything but his expression said it all.

 

Jaemin smiled with a small sigh. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna say anything.” He took Jeno’s hand and pressed his lips to the top. “I know you never intended for anything to happen, but it was fate, I suppose.”

 

“Dr. Na.”

 

Jaemin turned around instantly, letting go of Jeno’s hand, adrenaline rushing through his veins. Jaehyun was leaned up against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest. “Duh—Dr. Jung.” He bowed stiffly.

 

“You paged?” 

 

Jaemin cleared his throat. It had been one thing when Nurse Kang had walked in on them at first, but his attending watching him kiss his patient’s hand? That was a whole different one. He scooped up the clipboard from the table and scanned it, his heart beating wildly. “Mr. Lee’s morphine dosage needs to be lowered.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“He’s on too much,” Jaemin said. “Fifteen CCs? That doesn’t sound like a healthy amount. Besides, he’s exhibiting strange behavior.”

 

“Like what?”

 

“Um, his behavior is mimicking that of a. . . a high person,” Jaemin’s voice lowered towards the end. He was trying to think of a formal way to explain that Jeno was acting like he was _high_ but he just couldn’t.

 

“Like what?”

 

Jaemin glanced at Jeno with a defeated look on his face. Jeno simply gave him a lopsided smile and Jaemin turned his gaze back to Jaehyun. “He’s acting like he’s high, Dr. Jung. You really gave him some sort of hit with that kind of dosage.”

 

“And how much do you propose we put him on?” Jaehyun asked. Jaemin was surprised that he’d even considered Jaemin’s complaint, he’d been expecting to be shut down immediately with some bullshitted quotes from a medical textbook Jaemin had read when he was eleven. “We can’t just force him to go clean, he’ll be in too much pain. He hasn’t even started scarring. For all we know, he could still be bleeding under those stitches.”

 

Jaemin blinked. “Are you. . . suggesting I erred?” he asked in a quiet voice

 

“Na, I’m asking you how much you want him on. He’s your patient.”

 

“Then why didn’t I give Kang the dosage amount?” Jaemin’s voice was just above a whisper but he’d never spoken to anyone with this amount of force, let alone and attending _his_ attending.

 

“You were in the on-call room,” Jaehyun replied nonchalantly but that answer wasn’t enough for Jaemin. He wanted Jaehyun to know he was pissed, very pissed. He didn’t understand how a doctor could be so careless. “I was going in and out of surgery and didn’t have time to get you. Kang came to me and said Mr. Lee needed morphine and I just gave her a dosage. I didn’t have time to think about it.”

 

“Then get some.” Jaemin shoved Jeno’s clipboard at Jaehyun’s chest and stalked out of the room, letting the door close loudly behind him. He pushed through busy doctors, nurses, and visitors until he found a quiet place—the stairwell between the third and fourth floor. He sat on one of the flights, overlooking the city.

 

The sun was setting and it was a little past rush hour but that didn’t stop the busy citizens of Gangnam-gu from traversing back and forth from various destinations. Jaemin rested his head on the window, feeling coolness the metal railing on his scalp. He was deep in thought, so deep that he didn’t even know what he was thinking about. He knew he shouldn’t have blown up in Jaehyun’s face, he shouldn’t act like he knew everything. Jaehyun was his resident and he should respect him, but at the same time, Jaemin was so pissed at him. He couldn’t believe someone so experienced and respected could commit such a mistake. He could get Jeno hooked on morphine once he was discharged. Jaemin knew he would break down if Jeno came in for a follow-up appointment and he saw hundreds of little dots on his forearm from constant injections of a needle. He hated Jaehyun for giving him that image and that fear.

 

“Isn’t the city beautiful at this hour?”

 

Jaemin hadn’t even heard Jaehyun enter the stairwell, let alone see him get so close. Jaehyun was standing at the bottom of the flight, his hands gripping the railing as he leaned over to get a better view of the bustling city. He wasn’t looking at Jaemin who was staring at him from halfway up the stairs. Jaemin didn’t respond.

 

“Dr. Na. . .” Jaehyun murmured, looking up at him. 

 

“If you’re looking for an apology, you won’t get it,” Jaemin stated coolly, returning his gaze to the city. “It was your mistake and I’m not apologizing for it.”

 

“I’m not looking for an apology,” Jaehyun stated quietly. “Actually the opposite, I’m looking to give you an apology. I’m sorry about putting you in that situation. I already apologized to Mr. Lee. I know I should’ve taken responsibility for that and as a resident, I should’ve been a better example. I’m sorry, Dr. Na.”

 

“Jaemin,” Jaemin corrected. “Just call me Jaemin in these settings.” He didn’t take his eyes off the city.

 

“I’m sorry, Jaemin.” Jaemin heard Jaehyun walking slowly up the stairs. He took a seat next to Jaemin on the stairs. Jaemin still didn’t look him in the eyes.

 

“He’s on five CCs right now,” Jaehyun said. “You didn’t exactly specify what you wanted but I had an idea. He’s in a bit of pain. . . but he’ll push through.”

 

Jaemin didn’t respond.

 

“Jaemin, can you answer a question for me?”

 

“Depends,” Jaemin responded.

 

Jaehyun rested his hand on Jaemin’s knee. “Do you have feelings for Mr. Lee?”

 

Jaemin looked him in the eye for the first time. “What if I do?”

 

“You shouldn’t,” Jaehyun replied. “You could get your medical license taken away if it gets too serious. It’s not healthy to catch feelings for your patients anyway. So answer the question; do you have feelings for him?”

 

“I don’t think having feelings for him is the right phrasing,” Jaemin murmured, resting his head against the window, gaze once again on the city skyline.

 

“So what if I change it? Do you have a crush on him?”

 

Jaemin felt Jaehyun’s eyes boring into the side of his head and he gave in, turning to face him completely. “I barely know him.”

 

“That’s not an answer,” Jaehyun said simply. “Many people get crushes on those they barely know. Just looks are enough to do you in, believe me. Do you have a crush on him?”

 

Jaemin played with the end of the stethoscope around his neck. “Just. . . just a little one, and it’ll go away with time, promise. Please. . . please don’t tell the chief, hyung.” He called Jaehyun “hyung” to try to seal the deal.

 

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Jaehyun said. “We’ll make a deal—you stop flirting with your patient and I won’t tell the chief.”

 

“That’s hardly a deal!” Jaemin protested, but his voice was light.

 

Jaehyun smiled, dimples enlarged by the shadow of the setting sun through the windows. He held out his hand, beckoningly. “Deal?”

 

Jaemin shook it begrudgingly. “Okay. Deal.”

 

“Maybe. . . maybe we can make it a little more in your favor, eh?” Jaehyun suggested with a smirk. “Once you’re off the clock, anything I see you doing with Jeno. . . I didn’t.”

 

Jaemin blinked. “So. . . anything? Once I’m off the clock?”

 

Jaehyun nodded. “Flirting, cuddling, anything romantic. Just one catch—you can’t be wearing your doctor scrubs. And while I won’t be seeing anything, the chief might, so you better avoid him too.”

 

Jaemin had to restrain himself from throwing his arms around Jaehyun. “Deal!” he cried cutely and rested his head on Jaehyun’s shoulder in gratitude. 

 

Jaehyun ruffled his hair playfully. “Now back to work. I’ve got an appendectomy in half an hour, I think you deserve to scrub in on your first surgery. First planned surgery, I mean. Do you want to?”

 

Jaemin beamed. “Absolutely!”

 

\--

 

Once Jaemin clocked out with his timecard, he rushed back to the locker room and threw off his scrubs. His top was bare when Dong Sicheng walked in groggily, with Yuta on his back, fast asleep.

 

“You’ve got so much energy, squirt,” he commented, hoisting Yuta farther up on his back. “Meanwhile I’ve gotta carry this fatass ‘cause he fell asleep while clocking out. Can you believe that?”

 

“I thought you didn’t like him?” Jaemin asked breathlessly, slipping his shirt on and buttoning it hastily. He put his pants on and cursed when he realized they were on backward.

 

“In front of him I don’t,” Sicheng responded. “But when he’s in this state. . .” His eyes flickered with fondness before returning to their original stoic stare. “Oi, Nakamoto! Wake up!”

 

Yuta’s eyes snapped open. “Sicheng, ah! I’m not getting paged again, am I? I already had one guy die on me. . .!” His eyes adjusted and he blinked rapidly. Jaemin watched as he tightened his arms around Sicheng and rested his head on the back of Sicheng’s neck. There was definitely something else going on between those two but Jaemin didn’t care much to know. He had somewhere else to be. Somewhere better.

 

Jaemin slipped his father’s ring on his finger as he was making his way down the hallway. 

 

“Dr. Na, how was your first shift?”

 

Jaemin turned around to see Kim Dongyoung, one of the other interns he was working with. He still had his doctor scrubs on, so maybe he was still on the clock. “Over,” Jaemin responded with a smile before continuing to walk. He hoped Dongyoung didn’t take it as an insult, Jaemin just didn’t feel like talking.

 

He entered Jeno’s room without knocking and closed the door immediately but not after checking to see where the chief of surgery. Nowhere to be found, luckily. 

 

“Jaemin?” Jeno asked quietly, sitting upright on the bed. A variety program was playing on the TV but judging from a cell phone in front of him, it looked like Jeno wasn’t really paying attention. “Is everything alright?”

 

“Yeah,” Jaemin said. “I um, I’m off the clock. I came to see you.”

 

Jeno smiled. “Really?”

 

“Yeah. So what are you watching?” Jaemin asked but he knew his own lethargy would take over and he would be sleeping in just a few minutes but he wanted to make conversation.

 

“Some variety show, it looks like. I never really turned it off when you turned it on earlier. Aren’t you tired?”

 

Jaemin shook his head, but he and Jeno both knew that was a lie. “Not at all.”

 

Jeno cocked his head. “I know you’re lying. Nobody works like that and isn’t tired. Don’t you have somewhere to go? Like an apartment?”

 

“Yeah, but I’d rather be here with you,” Jaemin whispered, delighting when Jeno blushed profusely. “Besides, I just moved in so it’s not like there’s much at my place other than, like a bed and paper plates.”

 

Jeno chuckled. “Fair enough. But you should sleep anyway. Come on.” He moved aside, untangling from the IV tubes sticking out of his arm. “This is my good side and I’m still on some morphine so the casualties haven’t fully settled in yet.”

 

Jaemin frowned. “You shouldn’t be on too much morphine, but. . .”

 

“Dr. Jung changed my dosage,” Jeno explained.

 

“I know, he told me, but. . . nevermind. As long as you’re not acting like what you were and you’re not in any pain, it’s okay with me.” Jaemin sat on the bed hesitantly before swinging his legs above it so they could rest with Jeno’s. Jeno slung his arm over Jaemin’s shoulders and Jaemin felt his heart soar. He’d only known Jeno for a little over two days but all of the flirtatious behavior and smiles seemed to add up to this. Jaemin exhaled and rested his head against Jeno’s chest. Jeno adjusted to accommodate to the new weight.

 

“This doesn’t hurt you, right? The last thing I want to do is make your stay here longer,” Jaemin asked quietly, resting his hand on Jeno’s chest.

 

“No. My injured side is the other one anyway.”

 

“Okay,” Jaemin murmured. He could already feel himself drifting off before whispering, “good night” to Jeno and he was out cold.

 

\--

 

Jaehyun flipped through his file, eyes scanning over each name. He was on his final rounds, just a few more patients to check before he would be able to leave. Just a few follow-ups after surgery to check on and he would be out.

 

“Jaehyun.”

 

Jaehyun turned around to see Taeyong, his favorite anesthesiologist, and friend with benefits. “Taeyong, how is everything?” Jaehyun’s eyes returned to his file. He wasn’t trying to ignore Taeyong, he was just trying to wrap up his shift.

 

Taeyong slipped a Post-It note in Jaehyun’s breastpocket. “Just a note. Can’t have everyone else knowing, can we?” His voice was low and seductive and it took everything in Jaehyun not to shudder. 

 

Jaehyun swallowed as Taeyong walked past him calmly as if nothing had happened. Jaehyun slipped into the closest room, not caring whose it was and unfolded the note.

 

_My place tonight. Just sex and sleep._

_Taeyong_

 

Jaehyun slid the note back in his breastpocket. He didn’t really know why Taeyong couldn’t’ve just told him in a whisper, but he kind of liked it this way. He liked playing the secret hookup card, it made him feel like he was committing some sort of hypersin and the thought kind of turned him on.

 

Jaehyun looked up to see the patient, in case they were wondering what he was doing in their room. Then he saw them.

 

Jaemin and Jeno, curled up to each other on the bed, Jeno’s arm wrapped protectively around Jaemin’s waist and Jaemin’s head on Jeno’s chest.

 

Remembering their deal, Jaehyun was about to high-tail out of there when one of Jeno’s eyes opened a crack. He didn’t say anything, but he held Jaehyun’s gaze for a split second. And then, he put a finger to his lips gently.


End file.
